Category Archives: baja

Reduced Import Tariffs Announced For Mexico

Everyone should be happy with this news.

Mexican President Calderón was in the Todos Santos area last week to film an opening announcement about the new upgraded highway to Los Cabos. The highway isn’t finished yet but great progress has been made and most of the road (not bridges) should be usable in just a few more months. The project is massive and it’s no wonder it is taking some time to complete. It’s worth the wait – the drive to Cabo will be so much safer, faster and easier with the completed 4 lane upgrades.

Calderón also visited Tijuana where he announced reductions to import tariffs for all of Mexico. These changes could greatly reduce the cost of imported clothing, electronics and alcohol. The following is quote from the La Paz Gringos newsgroup.

Clothing, television screens, appliances, alcohol and 200 other goods will no longer be levied an import tax in Baja California Sur, after the declaration of a Border Economic Zone covering the entire peninsula. On Friday, President Calderon and his economy minister, Antonio Meade signed in Tijuana a decree for the competitiveness and tariff reduction.

With this decree, coupled with the recent release from import duty of 204 other items, products that come not only from America but from Asia may be had at more competitive prices for local merchants. Canned fish, articles for health care, clothing, footwear, big screens, wines and spirits, among others, are products whose tariffs will be reduced and also allow labeling at point of sale and not in the area input allowing further lower marketing costs.
Short URL: http://peninsulardigital.com/?p=66199

Mexico To Ban Shark And Stingray Fishing

On September 23, 2011, according to the New York Times via Greenwire, Mexico announced it will ban shark fishing beginning in 2012.

“Mexico wishes to share with the international community our intention to declare next year a moratorium on shark and stingray fishing,” said Yanerit Morgan, Mexico’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations on the side of a General Assembly meeting yesterday.”

This is possibly good news and I say possibly because Mexico has a plethora of great laws protecting species and environment but the laws don’t normally provide the money to enforce them. Vamos a ver!

Read the entire article at the WSJ: Mexico Bans Shark Fishing

Christine Delsol Demystifies Mexican Road Signs

Christine Delsol is one of my favorite writers covering Mexico and Baja. She finds some of the most interesting topics and gives them a good working over. This time she tackles one that always appealed to me, Mexican road signs. What do those things mean anyway? I mean, why do you need a road sign telling you not to leave rocks on the road. Here in Todos Santos Baja, a large rock does double duty as the equivalent of a hand brake. You see them in the back of many small pickups, just waiting for the opportunity to keep the truck from rolling backwards down a hill while a tire is being changed.

One she missed, or maybe it’s just local to here, is “no cheme el pasto”, don’t burn the grass. Do we really need to be told that in a road sign? I guess so.

How To Make Sense Of Road Signs In Spanish

Official Promotional Video For Baja California Sur

SECTURBCS, the official government office of tourism for Baja Sur, has published this promotional video covering Loreto, Todos Santos, La Paz, El Triunfo, Isla Santo and of course, Los Cabos (San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas). As my 16 year old daughter would say,”but everyone is sooooo pretty!”

Yep, that’s Jill Logan in her gallery in the Todos Santos segment.

It’s fairly obvious who SECTURBCS would like to see visiting Baja Sur. But what about the rest of us? :)

Baja California Sur… from SECTURBCS on Vimeo.

Classic Baja Outposts – Places For The Hardy To Visit

Kyle Ellison over at Gadling.com wrote a post back in August 2011 about classic travel in Baja. Best to check his spots out soon as progress, i.e. paved roads, electricity, etc., are making inroads and this time maybe, not all change is good.

He covers Bahia de San Luis Gonzaga, Bahia de Los Angeles, San Juanico (Scorpion Bay), Playa Santispac and El Socorro.

5 Classic Baja Outposts

ICF Releases Findings On US Retirees In Mexican Coast Communities

Todos Santos Baja is a Mexican coastal community. Be sure to participate in the survey for the next updates. Some of the results are expected, but some are surprising. The one that got me, more retirees enjoy bird watching than playing golf!

This is a long post and completely destroys the front page layout so I must add the “more” link.

ICF on US Retiree Trends in Mexican Coastal Communities
Anne McEnany - icfdn.org
October 13, 2011

For more information, visit icfdn.org.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – In 2010-2011, the International Community Foundation released a series of five research reports, entitled, “U.S. Retirement Trends in Mexico’s Coastal Communities.” Using data collected through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, the International Community Foundation surveyed over 840 U.S. retirees over 50 years of age that live full-time or part-time in Mexico’s coastal areas. This is the first comprehensive analysis undertaken of the U.S. expatriate community living in Mexican coastal communities.

Lifestyle and Demographics

It is clear that the low-key, slow-paced lifestyle of Mexico’s coastal communities – combined with the significant cost savings — is drawing U.S. citizens looking for a location to retire. Those numbers of Mexico-bound retirees will continue to rise, thanks to the number of U.S. baby boomers nearing retirement age:

• U.S. retirees chose Mexico for retirement due to its proximity to the United States and its affordability relative to other retirement destinations in the United States.

• U.S. retirees in Mexican coastal communities are relatively young and well-educated. Nearly 53% are under 65 years of age. Almost two-thirds of respondents have at least a college degree; another 28% attended at least one year of college. [ read more ... ]